Featured Hopi Second Mesa baskets?

Discussion in 'Tribal Art' started by bluumz, Mar 15, 2022.

  1. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    A recent local purchase, $12 for the pair. Quick googling indicates they are Hopi Second Mesa baskets… But I believe they’re newer? How new? Regardless, I think I got a great deal and I love them!
    The oval basket with the deer and Kachina measures 9”x8” and is 5” tall.
    The round one, which I at first thought was a plaque but it is cupped so I believe it is a basket, measures approximately 12” in diameter and 1.5” tall. Are those deer head in it's center? What's with the green cross striping on the inside? It appears painted on.
    Fake, repro, or real? Either way, at the price I paid, I'm satisfied. Offhand, the deer/kachina one looks very like several 1960s ones pictured on MedicineMan's website.
    I am a basket novice and appreciate any help, info, or value suggestions.

    C6C1B859-BA65-4904-A44F-5B950B976CE8.jpeg

    Basket number one:
    300C3370-E7F1-4AEF-9621-CE82B7A5361E.jpeg 0808C86A-0346-401C-83DC-8EADD2D314D0.jpeg DF61FEBB-0FED-4A8D-BBE5-FDA33A7BD775.jpeg 70E0FEC1-6C26-4279-9A80-CE63F65B381B.jpeg C7BAB501-0B1B-4DCA-A056-EE7D7706B9D7.jpeg

    Basket number two:
    B877D139-7451-4FFC-A68E-DA8F1688842C.jpeg
    CD119794-FC29-4945-A4DF-16C0E9C38408.jpeg CF81BA4F-9AA7-4E51-B349-6BCEB28146DD.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2022
    Aquitaine, Figtree3, judy and 3 others like this.
  2. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    Nice finds! Particularly the oval bowl. They do look like Hopi work, and rather recent. The back of the plaque/shallow bowl looks a little messier than I would expect. I don't have an explanation for the painted X on the plaque. Perhaps @Taupou will know more about dating, and the X.

    An excellent reference for baskets from the southwest, with detail on materials and methods, is:
    Andrew Hunter Whiteford. Southwestern Indian Baskets: Their History and Their Makers. School of American Research Press; 1988. ISBN 0933452241
     
  3. Taupou

    Taupou Well-Known Member

    I agree with 2manybooks. The oval bowl is definitely Hopi, and a nice find.

    But I have never encountered a Hopi basket with the painted "X," either. It was probably added by a former owner, for what reason, I have no idea. The unfinished back, (or sloppy craftsmanship) on the back, is also not typical of Hopi work. Maybe someone marked an X on it to indicate it wasn't suitable for the market!

    But the bowl, alone, is a great find for $12.

    I'd add Clara Tanner's books, "Indian Baskets of the Southwest" and "Southwest Indian Craft Arts" as being great references for the topic. There is no mention in those, or in any of the reference books I have about basketry or the Hopi culture, however, about the mysterious X.
     
    Figtree3, Lucille.b, judy and 2 others like this.
  4. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    Thank you both for your informative replies!
    So... 1960s on the basket or even newer?
     
    judy likes this.
  5. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    [​IMG]

    crow mother katsina design of the bowl
    they still make these.......so I might say 1980's.....

    but unless you were there watching the gal make it....... ?
     
    Lucille.b, judy and bluumz like this.
  6. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    True dat!
     
    judy likes this.
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